Is winning everything?

Anyway, I then got to thinking about competition — the aggressive and the amicable. There’s the downside to many competitive sports, like how so many football players suffer from serious injury, like concussions, and the outright brutality of prize fighting. Add the violence of rugby where it seems that the players are out to destroy themselves and their opponents without any caution. Then there are those outrageous hot dog eating contests and whacko television shows like “Survivor,” “Hell’s Kitchen” and an extremely gross one called “SmackDown” in which the violence is unbelievable! It makes you wonder if the urge to outdo another or possibly gain some notoriety or impose power over someone, no matter what the consequences, stems from human nature or is it often carried to ridiculous extremes because of compensation for something seriously lacking in their lives?

Friendly competition is one thing — like a game of tennis or Scrabble with a friend. It’s very different from competition in which people’s lives are totally devoted to winning; where winning is everything and losing is humiliating; in which some fans get so carried away that they riot in the streets and destroy property; where they will do anything to gain the advantage; when lies, cheating, subterfuge are common; when corporations will go to any lengths to compete and increase profits and have their way with Congress and the rest of us; where some politicians absolutely refuse to cooperate because they’re dedicated to their allegiance to their political party.

Competition permeates our culture so thoroughly that most of us take it for granted. Our free enterprise system depends on it, doesn’t it? It seems capitalism is dependent upon its citizens being convinced that our self-worth depends on how much more they have than the other person — more money, possessions, prestige, good looks, trophies, etc. And doesn’t out-of-control greed and competition have a lot to do with the status of our economy? Hasn’t it led to how so many of our politicians no longer represent us but instead cater to special interests?

Think how the ideal of free enterprise has been distorted by leveraged buyouts, takeovers, unscrupulous tactics used by corporate leaders to gain the advantage, to make CEOs wealthier, to gain political favor and/or to chase those encompassing objectives, expansion and growth. As Robert N. Bellah, et al, wrote in “The Good Society”: “Money and power are necessary as means, but they are not the proper measure of a good world.” 

On a list of the downsides of rabid competition, I would include the following:

1). Excessive rivalry discourages a sense of community and connection with others. It sets us apart when so many people’s feelings of self-worth depend on one-upmanship. Think about elections. Think about candidates who spend millions and go to great lengths to paint a disturbing picture of their competitors. 

2). Out-of-control competition can bring out the worst in those who participate. When we list concepts that relate to much of competition, like aggression, greed, envy, distrust. violence, dishonesty and conflict come to mind.

3). Competitive loss often promotes a feeling of inferiority since competitors often believe that they have been judged as not measuring up. This can foster unhealthy shame, despair, resentment and retaliation. As Kohn wrote: “The security that is so vital to healthy human development is precisely what competition inhibits.” 

When we compare the game of baseball with some other competitive sports that we see on TV this time of year like football, auto racing, wrestling, boxing — at least the chance of serious injury is much less. With games like baseball, tennis, volleyball, golf, etc. we can relax and enjoy the process of the game (I wonder how long it will be before the Giants get to the World Series again?).

“When we dehumanize and demonize our opponents, we abandon the possibility of peacefully resolving our differences, and seek to justify violence against them.” — Nelson Mandela.

Since 1984, Dorothy Dimitre has written more than 1,000 columns for various local newspapers. Her email address is gramsd@aceweb.com.